


That Would Do

by caacrinolaas



Series: Descending Upward [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Keith (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Post-Canon, Swordfighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 13:14:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19107820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caacrinolaas/pseuds/caacrinolaas
Summary: Three in the afternoon was Acxa's favorite time of the day at the Garrison, as nothing too interesting tended to happen. At least that was the case until today.





	That Would Do

**Author's Note:**

> The Pokémon direct gave me the surge of energy I needed to complete this, it's always so weird writing season 7-8 Keith who actually knows how to talk to people better... to a small extent

The corridors were always much more quiet around this time of day, when most officials were jammed into various meetings and the MFE pilots were out and on patrol. It was much easier for someone like Acxa- who was blue in a sea of orange and gold and brown- to traverse around the ship without the awkward tension faced with the humans still not used to other intelligent species that weren't them. 

She didn't necessarily have a destination, but she ended up wandering the area outside the training center, almost always empty besides the occasional Paladin or Blade. The typical emptiness was, though, currently filled by the sound of a constant clashing of metal from the sparring floor. It sounded almost as if it was a group training, so Acxa made her way over to the observation window. 

Looking through the window of the training center, Acxa furrowed her brows at the sight before her. Only two people were in the room rather than the group training she had suspected. 

Keith and Krolia appeared to be sparring in earnest, Krolia with her blade and Keith with his bayard. If either of them was unable block in time, there would for sure be consequences. 

That did not appear to be a problem, however; the movements between the two were fluid and at ease despite the unsettling clashing, it seemed that the two were very comfortable sparring against each other. 

Though she hadn't originally planned on watching the pair, Acxa was transfixed on the flowing movement as the two Blades quickly moved throughout the room. The last time she had seen the use of swords among Galran soldiers Lotor, but that in itself was an unusual case. The sword was seen as inefficient among Zarkon’s armies, the use of laser guns far more common to the point that she had only ever seen swords used by the occasional native species of a technologically lesser planet. 

Though that wasn’t always the truth, she chided herself, the sword that was clashing against the blade was the one that freed her from the belly of the weblem many years ago. If Acxa were to join the Blade of Marmora, she would have to use a sword herself as well. 

Acxa watched in silence for several minutes after that before she inadvertently made eye contact with Keith, who stopped momentarily to wave at her. Krolia stopped along with him, casting her an unreadable expression- not necessarily a good one from the downward turn of her eyebrows. 

The former General suspected that the Blade Leader did not quite trust her yet, only tolerating her presence because her son did. It was understandable, though Acxa wishes she had the guts to tell Krolia that she had no intentions of betraying her new friend. 

The other half-Galra waved at her again, making her realize with a start that he was waving her to come into the training center with them. A pit settled into her stomach; while she had already gotten past the original push of actually talking to him for the first time, she was still hesitant on approaching her former adversary. 

Well, it was admittedly more his mother. It's a healthy fear. 

Activating the sliding doors, Acxa made her way over to the two Blades at a brisk pace, as the training center was rather large. 

"What’s up?" Of course he had to hit her with that strange human greeting. 

Acxa stopped in front of the two of them before responding. “I happened to be passing by when I happened to see you training,” she gestured down at the blade Krolia was firmly holding, “the use of blades are almost unseen in the Empire, so I ended up watching out of curiosity. I hope you don’t mind.” 

“It’s fine. You're not the first." He turned to Krolia, who slightly gestured her head towards the door, before turning back to Acxa. "Krolia has a meeting soon, so do you wanna spar?" 

Okay, so she was officially on Krolia's cold shoulder list. That was alright, though, Acxa doubted she had the courage to talk to her directly. She nodded at Keith, wordlessly accepting the offer. 

Krolia handed over the blade she had been using over to Keith, leaning over to mutter something to him as they walked together towards the opposite wall. At first, it looked as if Keith was going to leave with her, but he waved as she left the training center and walked over to the supplies room. Acxa began to hesitantly follow before he walked out again, meeting her halfway. 

"Here." Keith tossed her a sword and she caught it with ease, examining the blade. It looked to be a plain, standard training sword. Acxa was surprised the Garrison would even have these, perhaps it was requested by either Voltron or the Blade of Marmora for training purposes. "Do you know the basics?" 

"Yes, I do." No, she does not. "The Empire requires learning the basics of nearly all weapons." Another lie. 

"Okay, good. I won't hold back then." 

_I'm going to regret this_ , Acxa thought as they stepped back into fighting stances. The sword was already growing heavy in her hand, too used to the lightweight laser guns. 

Keith ran at her faster than she was expecting, taking her by surprise as he swept downwards. Their swords clashed momentarily as Acxa barely blocked in time, before Keith jumped back and began mercilessly striking at her from all sides. 

It was overwhelming, but she managed to keep her cool and managed to block and sidestep each one. Problem for her was they were already reaching the end of the room as Keith slowly but surely ran her into a corner. 

That turned out to be an even bigger problem than she expected as the Paladin dashed behind her faster than her eyes could follow. All she could make out was a blur in her peripheral vision as pain shot through her upper back. 

Then she was on the floor. 

Acxa looked up from her pitiful sprawled out position to see the blade inches from her face. 

"Dead." Keith drew back his blade from her face and stepped back. "I'm guessing it's been awhile since you've used a sword, because no offense, that was like fighting Lance when he was still learning how to use his Altean broadsword." 

Though he claimed not to offend, the statement stung. Acxa didn't even know Lance _had_ a sword from how little he must use it. 

For a simple sparring session, that was far more stressful than it should've been. It was almost shameful how little she knew about the sword, stumbling and only able to try to _not get hit_ , while Keith was able to beat her up so gracefully it almost looked choreographed. 

The embarrassment she was struggling to hide must have shown, because Keith's smirk faded as he helped her up. 

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm terrible with guns." The sword in his hand transformed back into a knife once they were both standing. "I promise you're better at floor combat than Lance." 

"I would sure hope so." Acxa admittedly didn't know the Red Paladin too well, but she knew from battling the Paladins that he excelled in sharpshooting. Guns and blades were very different fields of combat, it wasn't surprising to find out Lance isn't really the best at swordsmanship. 

Neither was she, apparently. It was horribly humiliating despite her attempts to shove down the swirling embarrassment in her gut. 

Only one round of sparring and she's done for today. Acxa handed over the sword back over to Keith, who looked mildly surprised but accepted the weapon. 

"You can come by during Blade training, usually most of us are there." Keith began to go back to the supply closet, this time Acxa following suit. "I didn't teach myself how to use this, anyways." 

"Would I be allowed?" Krolia's distrustful glares flashed through her mind, she doubted the other hardened Blades would be too kind either. 

Keith just smirked slightly in response, loosely gesturing her to follow. "Funny you say that." 

Their walk through the halls was pleasantly quiet besides one of the paladins (the green one, if they were color coded correctly) stopping them to quickly chat before trotting off again. There was a reason Acxa preferred to walk around during these hours. 

The former General furrowed her eyebrows as they reached one of the public locker areas that was normally used to store regular clothing, with a few offshoots for the various organizations that often stayed on the Garrison. There was only so much space they could have for storage, according to the select few people that had planned the building expansion. 

Keith quickly disappeared around the corner into the Blade's locker space, leaving Acxa to stand awkwardly at the entrance. She wasn't entirely sure what to expect, he had been relatively vague throughout this entire encounter. Or maybe it was obvious and it had completely flown over her head. 

Acxa inhaled sharply when Keith reappeared holding a set of Blade of Marmora armor, wrapped tightly in a neat pile. She may not have known what to expect, but this most definitely had been last on the list of possibilities. 

Her voice was stuck for a few moments before she could respond, lightly clearing her throat. "I thought I needed to go through the trials." 

"Yea, that's not possible, apparently." He shrugged. "I was gonna give it to you later today but you happened to walk in. So." 

Acxa delicately took the armor, examining the various pieces and material of the under suit. Despite the more simplistic design, it was far more advanced than the warlord outfit she was currently wearing, which was not suited for outside space travel or stealth. 

It also appeared to be the same type of standard uniform she saw Keith wearing at the Kral Zera, not that she was expecting anything special. In fact, it warmed her heart a bit to be a part of the crowd. She's been in the spotlight far too long, and it hadn't been a good one. 

Acxa had always faintly wondered what her own individual mask would look like, for some reason the resurfaced thought hit her harder than receiving the uniform itself. The fact that the question was about to be answered made her current situation all the more real. 

"I don't... I don't know how to thank you." Acxa blinked back growing tears before she looked up again at Keith. "If a thank you would even be enough." 

Keith raised an eyebrow. "Just keep working for the coalition and I'll be happy." 

"I think that's easy enough, then." 

Acxa waved as she went into the Blade of Marmora's locker room to change into her new armor, a smile growing on her face with every step. This was truly the start of her new life.

**Author's Note:**

> Another quick note: I don't write Krolia actually distrusting Acxa, I think she's trust her son's judgement enough. I just think characters that don't know Krolia wouldn't feel too settled around someone as constantly stern-looking as her


End file.
